CPT _2010_ 82 - EN - Report Armenia 2010 _2_ - The Government ...

- 12 -11. In the course of the visit, the delegation received many allegations of police officers askingdetained persons (or their relatives) for money in exchange for arranging their release. Further, therewas a widespread perception among the detained persons interviewed by the delegation that anumber of benefits could be obtained through bribes; this is in itself a matter of concern. The CPTrecommends that the Armenian authorities deliver to all police officers, including throughongoing training, the clear message that those having abused their position in order to obtainmoney from persons deprived of their liberty or their relatives will be the subject of criminalproceedings. More generally, reference is made in this respect to the recommendations madeby the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO). 72. Torture and other forms of ill-treatment12. During the 2010 visit, the delegation heard a significant number of credible and consistentallegations of recent physical ill-treatment of detained persons by police operational staff and,occasionally, by senior officers, at the time of initial interviews (i.e. before a protocol of detentionwas drawn up). 8 The alleged ill-treatment mainly consisted of punches, kicks and blows inflictedwith truncheons, bottles filled with water or wooden bats, with a view to securing confessions orobtaining other information. In several instances, the severity of the ill-treatment alleged was suchthat it could be considered as amounting to torture (e.g. extensive beating; infliction of electricshocks with stun batons; blows to the soles of the feet). Further, many persons, including personsinterviewed by the police as witnesses, alleged that they had been subjected to oppressiveinterviewing methods (e.g. sustained questioning by as many as eight interviewers; threats of beingphysically ill-treated or executed, or of repercussions for family members) in order to compel themto make statements or to act as police informants. Most of the persons who indicated that they hadnot been ill-treated during such interviews generally attributed this to the fact that they had beenapprehended in the act of committing an offence or had immediately signed the statements expectedfrom them by police officers.The delegation also received some allegations of excessive use of force at the time ofapprehension during a large-scale police operation carried out on 17 April 2010 in the Nor Norkdistrict of Yerevan. The operation, which led to the apprehension of some 50 persons, was carriedout by several police forces, including masked police officers who apparently had neitheridentification numbers nor insignia on their uniforms. 9 In another case, one person interviewed bythe delegation had allegedly lost consciousness during apprehension as a result of the application ofan electric stun baton.On a positive note, no allegations of ill-treatment were received as regards custodial staffworking in police detention facilities.789See GRECO Evaluation and Compliance Reports on Armenia (www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/greco).Note should be taken that the persons interviewed agreed to share their experiences while at the hands of thepolice on the condition that their names would not be disclosed.The operation involved police officers from the Yerevan City Police Department and Nor Nork District PoliceDivision, the Police Patrol and Protection Department (the so-called “Red Berets”) and the Anti-OrganisedCrime Police Department. The delegation learned that officers from the Anti-Organised Crime PoliceDepartment may wear masks during such interventions.